


Requires and Directs

by Senji



Category: Famous Five - Enid Blyton
Genre: Gen, Post-Canon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-23
Updated: 2010-12-23
Packaged: 2017-10-14 00:36:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,280
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/143384
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Senji/pseuds/Senji
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The end of another break at Kirrin Cottage for George as she takes on new responsibilities.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Requires and Directs

**Author's Note:**

  * For [pene](https://archiveofourown.org/users/pene/gifts).



George woke slowly, making the most of her last late-morning of leave, but it was not long before she reminded herself that whilst there were warm beds elsewhere this was her last day at Kirrin Cottage.

"Besides," she told herself, "it's a clear day at last, I should visit my island."

Many of the other women, George never though of them as "Jennies" or "girls", wore the official skirts as part of their day-to-day uniforms but she preferred a pair of regulation trousers, which were both more practical and more comfortable. Of course most of them would have worn civilian clothes on leave, but after years in the uniform it was like a second skin. And her mother couldn't complain that she was insufficiently dressed like this.

Once again she was surprised to discover that whilst it felt late to her the house was not yet awake; just the quiet sounds of Cook starting to prepare the kitchen percolating up the hall stairs. Quietly she made her way downstairs and scribbled a quick note on the pad by the telephone in the hall before letting herself out the front door.

Outside the air was still crisp, and the sharp after-dawn light made her blink, so she turned away from the sun to take the longer route, along the cliffs, into the village. This time in the morning it was quiet except for the odd tourist on a morning run leaving George with a lot of time to stand on her favourite rocks and remember childhood adventures.

By the time she reached the village the sun was high enough to diffuse its light, and the sky was clear for the first time in days. She wended her way down to the coast and as she turned the last corner onto the shore a young lad ran up to her.

"Ms Kirrin! Ms Kirrin! I got your boat ready as soon as I saw the sky was clear, just like you asked."

"Thanks, Jim. Here, go get yourself an ice and some ginger beer once you get chance for a break."

"Cor, thanks awfully ma'am. She's over there at the end where she wouldn't get pulled in in a storm"

Drawing herself to attention she gave him a playful salute which he returned before running back to the crowd of people around the other boats.

She'd just about got the boat into the water when she heard a shouting behind her.

"Ahoy! Ahoy the boat!"

She finished pushing it out and it bobbed up and down behind her as she turned to see who it was.

"Humbly request permission to come aboard, ma'am!"

"Permission granted, Commander Kirrin."

She grinned and returned his salute, before hugging her cousin impulsively.

"You're here early, Dick," she said, after she had got her breath back from the first burst of rowing required to get away from shore, "we weren't expecting you until this evening."

"We finished the planning late last night, and your CO knew I was coming to see you so she detailed me as courier and gave me an extra half-day's pass out. I went straight from the Admiralty to the sleeper and phoned the cottage when I arrived here this morning. They told me you'd left early, so I guessed you would be going out to the island."

"Courier?" she looked at him quizzically.

"Got your official orders in here; I sha'n't get them out until we're on dry land though. I've also got some lunch, but that's from the bakery in the village not from the Admiralty."

The island was still the same, as it always was. They dragged the boat firmly out of the water and made their way up to the castle; surprising another flock of jackdaws that had grown unused to humans. Seeing the jackdaws reminded George of the pile of sticks that would inevitably be at the bottom of one of the towers and soon they had a warm campfire in the middle of the castle.

Once they'd sat down and made themselves comfortable Dick reached into his coat and drew out an oilskin pouch.

"So, here you go, 'The Admiralty hereby requires and directs' and so on. Well, unfortunately not, the Wrens and the Air Arm seem not to go in for that formality, but I like to imagine it's there."

He waited patiently while she read the first sheet of the sheaf inside, then stood and braced himself as he saw the change in her eyes.

"May I be the first to salute you in your new rank, First Officer Kirrin?" he asked, with a twinkle in his eye, and preempting the answer.

Acting more on reflex than thought she jumped up and returned the salute.

"I should still be the one offering you salutes you know, you are still higher ranked than me, and you're in the proper Navy."

"Pah. And I am a rear echelon logistics officer, and I shall stay that way unless I can swing a ship deployment. You, at least, are going into a combat zone."

"The WRNS do not deploy into combat zones; we are strictly non-combatants."

"If the balloon goes up the whole of Cyprus is going to be a combat zone. You know that, I know that, your CO knows that. And she trusts you to fly that 'plane on and off that island regardless; even if you have to dodge bullets to do it. And before you say anything that's why they promoted you; because you deserved it."

"The letter says…"

"I know what the letter says, it has to be written in official language after all, if there was going to be time for you to have a chat with your CO about this before the deployment then she would explain it to you, since there isn't she got me to — I'm your cousin and you have to listen to me eventually. Yes, all the stuff in the letter about presenting a coherent chain of command is correct, your promotion makes you unambiguously the senior Wren on station, and I am sure you will do a very good job of dealing with anyone who has a problem with us deploying women in uniform out there. But! the important thing is that you have been doing the work of a First Officer for some time, and this is a good chance to get you the promotion ahead of the interminably slow promotions board."

George half-fell, half-sat back down in surprise at her cousin's vehemence. It was, to some extent, true she guessed; that was after all the way of the WRNS — as the old saw went you worked twice as hard as a man and got half the credit — not that any of them would complain about it. As she thought Dick set to work unpacking the lunch he'd brought and the familiar scents and tastes of picnic foods started to bring her out of her shock.

By the time they finished eating she was excitedly discussing the details of the mission to Cyprus with Dick, and it was not until a particularly impudent jackdaw darted in to make off with a discarded bread-crust that they noticed that all the food was gone. They both burst into laughter as they shoed it off then Dick stood up and looked around.

"So, what do you want to see while we are here?"

"Everything! They say it's only going to be three months, but have you ever known the Admiralty get a deployment schedule right? It could be a long time before I'm back here. I need to fix it all in my mind. I need to see everything!"


End file.
